International Planning
Development is a general concept that includes many different aspects. The definition of development is improvement in human welfare, quality of life, social well-being, and satisfying the population's needs and wants. There are many different measurements for development, such as GDP, GNI, Human Development Index, Gender Inequality Index, Gini coefficient, and etc. Since each nation has its own culture, history, tradition, religion, and etc., the measurement of a successful development varies for different countries. As a result, although the general development concepts apply to all countries, each country needs to find their own specific way to develop. China has led the world its development among many various measures; especially economic growth. This analysis will consider some of the factors that are associated with China's exception development trajectory and what option it may hold in the future.
China's History of Development in the Twentieth Century
To understand China's rapid development it is necessary to look at the history of the events that occurred in China in the twentieth century. The Cultural Revolution was a movement in China that occurred during the period from about 1966 to 1976. This revolution was basically a power struggle between leaders in the Communist Party of China. However, the disagreement grew about how the government should operate and eventually included large portions of Chinese society, which nearly brought the People's Republic of China to a point of civil war. The revolution was propelled by Mao Zedong, the Chairman of the Communist Party of China, in order to regain control after a previous movement known as the Great Leap Forward.
Mao Zedong sought to increase the speed of socialism in China. The purpose of the Great Leap Forward was to increase the production of steel and raise agricultural production. However, the movement was counter-productive. Steel production did not achieve its desired levels. This had wide spread consequences and many industries were in havoc because some regions were over producing steel and other areas were being neglected. Furthermore, much of the steel that was produced was impure and useless while at the same time much of the agricultural production was falling.
After Mao's death the communism tradition began to embrace more capitalistic practices. At the end of Mao Era all enterprises in China were owned by the state. State owned enterprises (SOE) after Mao's death were unproductive and overstaffed along with their technological level being far from the standards in the Western countries. In 1976 came new leader Deng Xiaoping, revamped the Chinese economy, because it was undeveloped, ineffective and declining economy combined with a very poor population, and this was the beginning of the movement towards a market economy.
China's More Recent Development
Since the reforms of 1978 moved China to a post-Mao period, the economy has experienced an eight to ten percent growth rate annually which is among the highest rates in the history of economic development (Thomas). This rate leads to a doubling of the entire economic activity of the country every seven years. If this rate continues at its current pace, China will overcome the United States as the world's largest economy by 2020 in terms of its purchasing power parity (PPP). The current development model is a mixture of capitalism and communist elements. For example, although many industries have been liberalized and a strong private sector has evolved, the state retains much control over major strategic industries as well as the financial sector. China is also the world's biggest recipient of foreign investment as many businesses and individuals have attempted to be a part of China's enormous growth potential.
There are many advantages that China has such as low labor rates and a large domestic economy. However, these factors alone cannot explain China's success. If these were the dominant factors the other countries in the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) would have development performances similar that of China. Together, the four BRIC countries comprise about 40% of the world's population, cover more than a quarter of the world's land area over three continents, and account for more than 25% of global GDP (Jason). However, China alone is responsible for more than 15% of the world's total growth in economic output.
Figure 1 - World GDP (The Economist Online)
China has had a long history of development success that has severed as the foundation for the more recent wave of economic activity. However, differences between China and the rest of the BRICSs can be found also...
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